Ringleaders of Scotland's biggest paedophile ring jailed for life

The two ringleaders of Scotland's biggest paedophile ring, Neil Strachan and
James Rennie, have been jailed for life for child pornography and abuse,
including the sexual assault of a three-month-old baby.

James Rennie (left) and Neil Strachan- the two ringleaders of Scotland's biggest paedophile gangPhoto: PA

11:02AM GMT 29 Oct 2009

Strachan, a convicted sex offender, was ordered to spend a minimum of 16 years behind bars, at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Rennie, once a prominent and respected gay youth worker, was told he must spend at least 13 years in jail.

HIV-positive Strachan, 41, was found guilty of attempting to rape an 18-month-old boy and sexually assaulting a six-year-old boy at a trial earlier this year.

Rennie, 38, the ex-boss of LGBT Youth Scotland, an organisation dedicated to helping young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, was convicted of molesting a young boy over more than four years, beginning when the child was aged just three months.

The pair, both from Edinburgh, were also convicted of a string of child porn charges, alongside six other men who have already been sentenced.

They were further found guilty of conspiring to abuse children, as were three other members of the network, after a 10-week trial.

Referring to Strachan's abuse of the 18-month-old boy, which was captured in a photograph known as the "Hogmanay image", Judge Lord Bannatyne told him: "By its very nature, what is shown in that photograph is utterly appalling and would shock to the core any right-minded person who has had to see it.

"Over and above that, this offence involves the most gross level of breach of trust. You were invited into a house, treated as a friend of the family, and then entrusted with their child.

"You then breached that trust in the way shown in the 'Hogmanay image' in order to satisfy your base sexual interests. This, in my judgment, can be properly described as a dreadful crime."

Lord Bannatyne said Rennie betrayed the parents of his victim to a "truly appalling" extent.

He said: "You wholly betrayed that friendship and breached their trust in the grossest manner."

The judge said Rennie was at the heart of the conspiracy to abuse youngsters and likened him to a spider weaving an electronic web to bring about his crime.